Pool Reports of November 30, 2023

In-Town Pool Report 1 — Kirby joining briefing

Good morning —

Per the press office, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will be joined by NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby at today's briefing, which as of now is still scheduled for 1300 ET.

In-Town Pool Report 2 — schedule change / new lectern!

Two updates for you:

1. The briefing will now begin at 1315 ET
2. There's a new lectern (not a "podium," thank you very much)

From the White House:

"In today's press briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will debut the new press toast lectern, which was designed by Army, Navy and civilian team members. The new lectern and its accompanying seal were designed over the last year, and they replace the previous lectern that was installed in 2007. The previous lectern will be preserved."

In-Town Pool Report 2a — Lunch Lid

The White House has called a lunch lid until 1310 PM. This should have been included in the previous pool report regarding the new lectern and briefing time.

Your pooler regrets the error.

In-Town Pool Report 3 — two-minute warning

The briefing with KJP & Kirby (originally set to start at 1315 ET) will begin in just under two minutes.

You can watch it on whitehouse.gov/live, the White House's YouTube channel, or any number of fine outlets.

In-Town Pool Report 4 — briefing starts

KJP and Kirby entered the briefing room to kick off the first briefing with the new lectern at 1326 ET.

In-Town Pool Report 5 — briefing done

KJP ended the briefing at 1401 after Simon Ateba had another tantrum about not being called on to ask Kirby about Angola.

In-Town Pool Note — delay

Gather for the bilateral with the President of Angola has been pushed back to 1450, per the press office.

In-Town Pool Report 6 — gathering for Oval

Pool has been called to gather for President Biden's sit-down with President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço of Angola.

Having been duly summoned, we have therefore gathered and are currently in the briefing room awaiting escort into the Oval Office.

In-Town Pool Report 7 — Oval Office

Pool was escorted into the Oval at 1517 to find President Biden and President Lourenço seated.

In-Town Pool Report 8 — Biden says he'll visit Angola

POTUS responded to a shouted question about visiting Angola by saying: "I have been there and I will be back."

In-Town Pool Report 9 — bilateral meeting / Biden remarks

NOTE: The previous report should have been numbered 8 and has been sent out at #8 by the White House.

President Biden and President Lourenço both spoke for a combined ten minutes, with pauses for translators.

Mr Biden opened with some remarks about the economy before pivoting to Africa, telling Mr Lourenco that they were meeting "at a historic moment".

"Simply put, a partnership between Angola and America is more important and more impactful," he said, adding that he was proud of work done through the "partnership for global infrastructure and investment," including the railway line being built from Angola to the Indian Ocean with more than $1 billion in US aid.

"This first-of-its' kind project is the biggest US rail investment in Africa ever," he said. "One that's going to create jobs and connect markets for generations to come".

He added that the US is also investing another $1bn+ in Africa "for a number of items," including solar energy projects.

Mr Biden also thanked Mr Lourenco for his "leadership, including working toward peace in eastern DRC" and said America is "all-in on Africa".

Pool was escorted out at approximately 1530 ET. The President did not respond to shouted questions about Henry Kissinger but did answer the single question about visiting Angola as detailed in the previous pool report.

I've included an Otter link, but please check against official transcript when it is released.

https://otter.ai/u/yFzEEYU-7Vn87oyMxvft6I7-dRw

From the White House:

The President is participating in a bilateral meeting with President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço of the Republic of Angola:

U.S. Manifest
The President
T.H. Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
T.H. Samantha Power, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development
T.H. Victoria Nuland, Acting Deputy Secretary of State
T.H. Tulinabo Mushingi, Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of Angola
T.H. Amos Hochstein, Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President for Energy and Investment, National Security Council
T.H. Molly Phee, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
T.H. Judd Devermont, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council
Ms. Jessie Evans, Director for African Affairs, National Security Council

Angola Manifest
H.E. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola
H.E. Téte António, Minister of External Relations
Mr. Edeltrudes Costa, Chief of Cabinet of the President
H.E. Victor Lima, Secretary for Diplomatic and International Cooperation of the President
Dr. Bertino Matondo, Director General of External Intelligence Services
H.E. Agostinho Van-Dunem, Ambassador of the Republic of Angola to the United States

In-Town Pool Report 10 — dinner lid

The press office has declared a dinner lid until 1700.

In-Town Pool Note — President of Angola at sticks

After the press office declared a dinner lid, there was an announcement about the Angolan president coming to the stakeout location.

By the time your pooler managed to grab a notebook and arrive there (approximately 30 seconds later) he was already back in his SUV and departing the White House.

Pool did not witness any remarks but your foreign pooler may have obtained video of brief remarks that were made in Portuguese.

In Town Pool Report 11 — gathering for Xmas tree lighting

Pool has been duly summoned to gather for a walk to the Ellipse, where POTUS, FLOTUS, VPOTUS and SGOTUS will preside over the National Christmas Tree Lighting.

We are walking to the Ellipse at 1730

In-Town Pool Report 12 — from the Ellipse

Pool is now awaiting POTUS, who will deliver remarks from a ballistic glass-enclosed box on the right side of a stage that has been erected on the Ellipse.

Tonight's program is being pre-taped for broadcast on CBS but POTUS' remarks (and possibly more) will be live-streamed on the White House website and YouTube channel.

Pool has been advised that POTUS and FLOTUS will not be visible to us after he finishes speaking but he will be visible on the live stream as he reacts to the performance.

Photographer Kyle Mazza has informed your pooler that a motorcade from the White House was visible from the media riser and departed at approximately 1757.

In-Town Pool Report 13 — two minutes to POTUS

Under two minutes to POTUS remarks

In-Town Pool Report 14 — tree lighting and POTUS

POTUS and FLOTUS appeared in their bullet resistant box at 1806. POTUS promptly counted down from five, and upon reaching a count of "zero" the tree was illuminated in a festive manner.

He is now delivering livestreamed remarks, to be followed by a performance which he and FLOTUS will watch.

In-Town Pool Report 15 — protesters

Previous report should have been numbered 14, this is 15

After POTUS finished speaking pool was able to hear protesters who chanted "genocide Joe" and perhaps other things that weee not immediately understandable

In Town Pool Report 16 — travelers with POTUS and programme

Please see the following from the White House:

Traveling with the President via motorcade en route to the Ellipse:

Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
Annie Tomasini, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor the President & Director of Oval Office Operations
Anthony Bernal, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the First Lady
Ryan Montoya, Assistant to President & Director of Scheduling & Advance
Marc Gustafson, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for the White House Situation Room
Jordan Montoya, Special Assistant to the President & Personal Aide to the First Lady
The President and the First Lady are participating in the National Christmas Tree Lighting on the Ellipse.

Master of Ceremonies
Mickey Guyton

National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony
Mickey Guyton performs, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"
The President and the First Lady

Performance Schedule
Dionne Warwick and Ledisi perform, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
Darren Criss performs, "Happy Holidays"
Samara Joy and Antonio McLendon perform "The Christmas Song"
Dionne Warwick performs "First Noel"
St. Vincent performs "O Christmas Tree"
Samara Joy performs "Warm in December"
Ledisi performs "Frosty the Snowman"
Darren Criss performs "All Those Christmas Cliches"
Joe Walsh and St. Vincent perform "White Christmas"
Maddie and Tae perform "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"

The President is delivered remarks at the National Christmas Tree Lighting on the Ellipse.

Speaking Program
Mickey Guyton
The President

In attendance at the National Christmas Tree Lighting
The First Lady
Secretary Lloyd Austin, Department of Defense
Secretary Deb Haaland, Department of the Interior
Acting Secretary Julie Su, Department of Labor
Members of Congress, members of the Administration, D.C. community members, and White House staff

In Town Pool Report 17 — show ends, POTUS departing

The taping ended at approximately 1919 ET, at which point POTUS and FLOTUS departed for the short motorcade back to the White House. Pool did not see either of them board the vehicle.

Pool is now walking back to the White House as of 1922.

In-Town Pool Report 18 — lid

White House called a travel/photo lid as of 1945 ET.

Good night!

Foreign Pool Report #1 - Visit of President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço of Angola - Background

Boa tarde!

I will be your foreign pooler during President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço's visit scheduled for 2:30pm.

This is President Lourenço's second visit to the White House since last December - when he participated in the US- Africa Leaders Summit. But this is only the second official visit of an Angolan President to the White House. The first one was in 1995, when President José Eduardo dos Santos was welcomed by President Bill Clinton.

Upon announcing the visit, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the leaders will mark 30 years of diplomatic relations. This year was marked by many high-level engagements between the two countries, including the first-ever visit by the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, in September to Angola.

NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications called it a "historic year", saying the "US-Angola relationship has flourished". John Kirby reaffirmed today that "Angola is a strategic partner and a growing global voice on issues of peace and security. The President is grateful to Angola for their principled voice, in terms of the conflict in Ukraine, and the role that President Lourenço is playing to advance solutions to conflicts elsewhere on the continent".

Agenda:

The two presidents will focus discussions on climate change (as both are skipping the COP28 starting today in Dubai), energy, trade, and investment - particularly, the development of the Lobito Corridor that will connect Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.

- Lobito Corridor: The billion-plus dollars project for hundreds of miles of new rail line in Africa, spearheaded by President Biden's Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, aims to establish a trade route connecting central African countries – the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia - to global markets through Angola's Lobito port in the Atlantic coast. These countries are key sources of critical minerals, including copper and cobalt, used to produce electric vehicles. It's part of the Biden administration's effort to take on China – Angola's main trade partner - who has funded many infrastructure projects throughout Africa.

The White House said the leaders are also expected to "build on the tenants of the US- Africa Leaders Summit, specifically how the United States and African nations can continue working together to address regional and global challenges."

- Regional challenges: President Lourenço has pledged to contribute to reducing tensions in the African Great Lakes region and emphasized the need for funding for efforts to fight terrorism in Africa. The United States is collaborating on regional security challenges, including addressing the conflict in eastern Congo.

- Global challenges: At his speech at the UN General Assembly in September, President Lourenço said the world should not ignore the need to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and should not forget the suffering of the Palestinian people. He defended an immediate end to the Russian war in Ukraine. And stressed the need to comply with UN resolutions on the US embargo against Cuba. President Lourenço has also emphasized the need for a reform of the UN Security Council that "reflects the reality of the times", and that "Africa must be granted permanent membership on the Council". President Biden has also defended the need to reform the Security Council.

The Angolan Embassy didn't offer further details on the agenda beyond what the White House had announced, or on their expectations for the meeting.

Other topics to watch:

- Visit to Africa: During the US- Africa Summit last December, President Biden promised to visit Africa this year. So far, 16 cabinet members and heads of government departments and agencies have traveled to the continent in 2023, including Vice President Kamala Harris. However, the president still doesn't have a date to go. The delay has been a disappointment to many African countries.

- Democracy: Angola is classified as a "not free" country by Freedom House because of "corruption, due process violations, and abuses by security forces". It's expected that President Biden will talk about the state of democracy in Africa. Kirby added that "the President never shies away from talking about human rights. The President routinely brings that up."

BIO:

João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, 69, is the third President of Angola. He succeeded former President José Eduardo dos Santos, who had been in power for 38 years.

Angola has been ruled by the same party - People's Movement For the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) - since independence from Portugal in 1975. The 2010 constitution established that the head of the political party receiving the most votes in general elections becomes president – who can serve a maximum of two five-year terms.

João Lourenço was elected president in 2017 after his party won a majority of 150 seats and was re-elected last year. Before becoming president, he was the Minister of Defense. João Lourenço received military training in the former Soviet Union from 1978 to 1982. He also served as governor in several provinces of Angola.

Besides speaking Portuguese and his indigenous language, Umbundu, President Lourenço speaks Spanish, English and Russian.

Foreign Pool Report #2 – Lourenço's Visit - Arrival

President Lourenço arrive at 3:02pm- delayed by more than 30 minutes.

He was greeted by the WH Acting Chief of Protocol, Ethan Rosenzweig. He waived to the press and enterer the West Wing.

The Angolan embassy didn't respond to a request about their delegation. But according the Angolan press, the Minister of Foreign Relations, Tete Antonio, is accompanying the president in Washington.

Foreign Pool Report #3 – Lourenço's Visit – Oval meeting

Pool stayed for about 12 minutes in the Oval.

President Biden did not answer multiple questions about Henry Kissinger, but he answered one question about visiting Angola: "I have been there and I will be back" .

President Lourenç0 said afterwards he will invite president Biden to visit Angola and will negotiate dates to make this visit happen.

POTUS started his remarks by welcoming President Lourenço: "We are meeting at a historical moment. Relationship between US and Angola never been more important"

He said the Lobito corridor is the biggest US investment in Africa ever.

The Angolan president improvised his remarks in Portuguese. He thanked president Biden for the invitation, and went on:

"We are open to cooperate with the US in economy, defense, security, transportation, energy, agriculture, and space cooperation"

He congratulated President Biden for being the first US president to change the cooperation paradigm between America and the African continent.

"You promised to look at the African continent with a different eye. It's a new page that opens up between US and Africa relations".

Please check against transcription

Foreign Pool Report #4 – Lourenço's Visit – No Press Availability After + Delegations

President Lourenço is not expected to make remarks/ take questions from the steakout position, as some foreign leaders have been doing after Oval meetings.

The meeting is underway.

U.S. Manifest
The President
T.H. Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
T.H. Samantha Power, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development
T.H. Victoria Nuland, Acting Deputy Secretary of State
T.H. Tulinabo Mushingi, Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of Angola
T.H. Amos Hochstein, Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President for Energy and Investment, National Security Council
T.H. Molly Phee, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
T.H. Judd Devermont, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council
Ms. Jessie Evans, Director for African Affairs, National Security Council

Angola Manifest
H.E. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola
H.E. Téte António, Minister of External Relations
Mr. Edeltrudes Costa, Chief of Cabinet of the President
H.E. Victor Lima, Secretary for Diplomatic and International Cooperation of the President
Dr. Bertino Matondo, Director General of External Intelligence Services
H.E. Agostinho Van-Dunem, Ambassador of the Republic of Angola to the United States

Foreign Pool Report #5 – Lourenço's Visit – Surprise remarks

The Angolan president is coming now to the steakout position to make remarks - getting the press by surprise.

Foreign Pool Report #6 – Lourenço's Visit – Remarks

The meeting lasted less than one hour. After it, President Lourenço came to the steakout position and talked to the pres for about 35 seconds:

"The meeting was better than I expected"

"Our relationship is at a high level. There is a total opening by the US government and Angola will win with this. Not just Angola, but the continent"

The Angolan President arrived yesterday in Washington and he is leaving tonight.